Friday, December 23, 2011

Mister Tristan...and Bears

[image credit Gary]

For some reason the other day Mister Tristan (the 3-year-old human being, not the blog) asked a question about bears and remembered seeing a couple last summer at Shenandoah National Park in VA. We try to go there for a mini-vacation every summer.

This summer Mister Tristan was old enough to show interest in the wildlife, and had the opportunity to see many of the critters of Shenandoah. One night when we went for dinner at the Skyland resort restaurant, in the lobby Mister Tristan saw a bear statue, 4'-5' tall, dressed up in a park ranger outfit, but was a bit shy about approaching it too closely.

I took his hand and led him over to the bear, asking him whether he wanted to touch the bear's nose.He said yes, so I lifted him up, whereupon Mister Tristan stuck a finger up the bear's nostril, pulled the finger out, examined it, and announced "No boogies!"

I try to do some trail running at Shenandoah and have been fortunate to have seen many bears over the years. No matter how many times that happens, it ALWAYS is a huge thrill.

2 comments:

My almost 3 year old is fascinated with bears now too.I've only encountered bears on the trail once and there was a fire burning on the other side of Green Mountain in Boulder when it happened. I've seen evidence of bears many, many times, just have never been lucky enough to experience the somewhat primal adrenaline rush that comes with an actual siting.Living where I do now, I'd be absolutely beside myself if I saw a bear: here they wear Spectacles...J